Foiled Escape
by Kalira69
Summary: It's a chore keeping Kakashi in the hospital against his own nature, even when he needs to be there.


"Eternal Rival!"

The nurse Kakashi had been arguing with startled so badly he reflexively released the hold he had been keeping on Kakashi's pant leg. Kakashi rolled his eyes and swung himself out at more of an angle, pivoting against the windowframe.

He dropped, but was sadly not too surprised when after his second rebounding leap - messy, he assessed his own movements with some irritation - he was hit by a wall that hadn't been there a split-second prior.

A very gentle wall, inasmuch as the solid, unyielding planes of Gai's muscular body could be when coming in at speed, but it still arrested his momentum. Hard. Gai closed his arms around Kakashi as he struggled to catch his breath and in a moment they were back through the window he'd just fled from. The nurse, evidently over his shock, promptly started yelling again.

"I know your Cool Hipness loathes such restriction as to remain in the hospital, my Rival, but you must Soldier On with all the Fortitude of Your Youth!" Gai declared, hands on hips, once he had gently dumped Kakashi into the waiting bed. He was still blocking the window. Casually.

"The fortitude of my youth was doing just fine and would rather be at home reading." Kakashi grumbled under his breath. Or just about anywhere, really. There was a tree near the Academy that had a perfect Kakashi-sized cradle in its spreading branches; excellent for hiding himself away to be left alone for an afternoon of reading or a nap.

"Ah! So Cool! So Hip!" Gai pressed a hand to his mouth, evidently overcome - as he so often was - by emotion. He didn't budge from the path to the window, however, or stop watching Kakashi. "I Swear to you, my Eternal Rival, I shall find a way to keep you Most Satisfactorily Occupied right here!" He pointed to the hospital bed.

"Oh _really_?" Kakashi asked wryly as the nurse left, still muttering darkly about horrible patients, and settled back a little, though with ill grace.

"Behave, Kakashi!" Gai scolded, his lips twitching with amusement. He came to sit on the bed beside Kakashi. "I am sorry, My Love," he said more softly, "but you really must stay. You are not well." He ran his fingers through Kakashi's limp hair as he sagged, head and body both aching, and let his head rest against Gai's broad shoulder.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Gai asked quietly, lips brushing Kakashi's brow.

"Stop declaiming," Kakashi said sullenly, "if you won't let me leave." He hurt, and he was exhausted, but he hated the hospital and he would be _fine_ at his apartment. He wasn't an idiot, he knew he needed to _rest_ , needed the time to recover and rebuild his chakra alike, but he could do that far more comfortably just about anywhere else.

Gai hummed softly, unbothered as usual by Kakashi's acerbity, and continued his petting, nudging Kakashi to settle closer against his side. He slouched there, with a low sigh, and let Gai gently shift him, leaning back against the raised head of the bed and cradling Kakashi against himself.

Kakashi tensed as a quiet footstep approached, and began to sit up as the door opened, but Gai splayed a hand behind his shoulders, pressing gently down to keep him where he was. A moment later the door closed and the footsteps moved away again.

Kakashi sighed, but let the steady pressure of Gai's hand stroking up and down his back ease the tension away again. Gai made a soft sound of approval and began quietly relating a story about some mischief his team of genin had gotten into on their last C-rank in a bid to distract Kakashi.

He laughed softly against Gai's throat, fingers hooking around the fabric of his hitai-ate. Gai's arm curled around Kakashi's waist, and he paused to brush a kiss to the top of Kakashi's head. A silent promise; companionship, security, understanding.

"Gai. . ." Kakashi trailed off, and Gai hugged him, just snugly enough that it didn't hurt.

"You are welcome." Gai replied softly, nuzzling Kakashi's hair. He picked up the thread of his story again, and Kakashi smiled, closing his eyes as he listened, letting Gai's rich voice and the playful antics of his friend's students in the story lull him into something close to peace.

* * *

This is an edited and expanded version of one of the drabbles I wrote and posted to Tumblr from the ICU last Autumn, this one from my first full day in the hospital. I'm sure what inspired it is a _complete mystery_.


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